Friday, 28 July 2023
Call for nominations for Council of the Law Society
Members of the ACT Law Society are invited and encouraged to nominate for election to the ACT Law Society Council for 2023-24.
Nominations open on Friday 28 July 2023 and close at 5pm on Friday 11 August 2023. Voting will be held between Friday 25 August and Friday 15 September, and the new Council will be declared at the AGM on Thursday 21 September 2023.
The Council of the Society consists of:
- President
- Two Vice-Presidents
- Secretary
- Treasurer
- Immediate Past President
- 10 general Council members
The current composition of Council includes members from all parts of private practice (sole practice, small firm, medium firm and large firm), from the community legal sector, and from government. We encourage practitioners from all sectors of our membership to nominate. The current Councillors can be viewed on our website. All Councillors are required to retire at the AGM, but may stand for re-election.
What we are looking for
Councillors should be upstanding members of the profession, who bring an appropriate level of experience and commitment to the role, and whose values align with the important duties that Councillors perform as both administrative decision-makers for our regulatory processes and governing board members. Councillors should understand the different roles that the Society performs and be committed to the Society’s objectives (as set out in our Constitution).
It is important that Council is both representative of the Society’s membership, and includes appropriately experienced members who can contribute to the Society’s strategy and governance, as well as to high standards of administrative decision-making on sometimes complex regulatory matters.
Council members are expected to contribute to robust discussions on regulatory matters that may be sensitive and to maintain the strictest confidentiality about Council deliberations on regulatory matters.
Role and responsibilities
The Society has several purposes – as a peak professional body, a licensing body, and as a regulator of the legal profession in the ACT. The functions of the Council are prescribed in the Society’s Constitution and in the legislative framework set out in the Legal Profession Act 2006, Legal Profession Regulation 2007 and the ACT Legal Profession (Solicitors) Conduct Rules 2015.
The Council serves as both a governing board for the Society as well as the administrative decision-making body in relation to complaints and discipline matters under the Legal Profession Act 2006. Complaints and discipline matters are considered every month and form the bulk of the commitment for this role. Strategy and governance matters are generally considered on a quarterly basis.
The Executive Committee is a subcommittee of the Council, with delegated powers to consider certain matters between Council meetings. This includes some licensing matters.
Councillors serve a term of one year. Councillors are required to retire at the AGM, but may stand for re-election.
Expected time commitment
President
The President is required to attend the Council and Executive Committee meetings. The President chairs the Executive Committee meetings (while a Vice President is chosen to chair meetings of the Council). The President's role includes additional time commitments on a monthly basis ranging from established meetings to speaking engagements on behalf of the Society. In recognition of the time commitment of the President, an allowance has traditionally been paid and is approved by Council annually – the rationale for the allowance is that it is an “honorarium” partly to compensate the President for the loss of fee income while the President holds office and to assist the President to employ a junior solicitor if the President so wishes.
Executive members
The Executive Committee of Council comprises the President, two Vice-Presidents, Treasurer, Secretary, the Immediate Past President, and a Council nominated member. The committee currently meets on Wednesdays at 4.30pm on the alternate fortnight between Council meetings, and also meets out of session as required. This commitment is in addition to attendance at and participation in Council meetings.
Executive members also take on additional responsibilities according to their role and should bring an appropriate level of experience and have the capacity to take on the role. Interested members are welcome to contact the CEO to discuss these additional responsibilities.
Councillors
The Council meets monthly, currently on the third Monday of every month at 5pm, and out of session as required. Meetings are generally around 2 hours in length. Meetings are currently held on an alternating basis each month face-to-face at the Society office and via Zoom.
Papers for Council are generally distributed on the Thursday prior to each Monday meeting. The papers can be extensive, and it is critical to the administrative decision-making role of
Council that prospective Councillors are able to commit the required time to prepare ahead of a meeting so that they are able to participate effectively in meetings. Typically, Councillors might commit at least 2 hours of preparation time in advance of each meeting. Councillors who are less familiar with the relevant legislation, regulations, and rules may need to commit additional time to preparing for a meeting until more familiarity is built up.
Council Members are also encouraged to attend Society events as ambassadors of the Society and to engage with members.
Induction training
The Society conducts induction training for all Councillors, covering governance matters and with particular attention provided to the administrative decision-making responsibilities of Council in relation to complaints and discipline matters. All Councillors are required to attend the training. The date will be notified to elected Councillors immediately after the AGM.
Nominate
If you are a financial member of the ACT Law Society and you’d like to make a difference in the local legal community and contribute to the good governance of the Law Society and regulation of the profession, nominate for election to Council today. We encourage members from all areas of practice to apply.
Eligible members can nominate for more than one position. Associate members are not eligible to nominate.
In order to complete your nomination, you will need:
- Your member number (you can find this on your practising certificate)
- The names of two financial members to support your nomination
- A short (250 words) biography written in the third person
- A passport-style photograph (colour preferred)